Fanaticism and Colonialism: The killer of languages

By Bakhtawar Baloch

LANGUAGE:

Language is the identity of a person, a country or a nation. Language is only the dominant, puissant and omnipotent weapon that preserves and perpetuates our culture. Nobody will know about your culture without knowing the language. It is our Language and culture which distinguishes us from other people. Our language promotes our culture, our tradition and the code of our culture. Our language is not only the means of existence of our culture but the existence of our lives, too. As Helene Cixous said, “Life and death are under the power of language.” Language is life and Language is death. Many countries came into existence based on their language. As the cessation of East Pakistan modern day Bangladesh broke out because of her language, culture and tradition, nevertheless, not based on religion. The majority of scholars agree that to enervate a country and to delete the existence and entity of a country become inevitable if one destroys its language. Then the history, culture, traditions and every functioning organ will collapse on its own.

COLONIALISM:

Colonialism is the act of power of occupying a nation and forcibly declaring it or merging it into its domination. Colonialism is the power of curbing the sovereignty of indigenous people and commanding over the nation. Perhaps, one could say that Colonialism refers to the policy or practice of a country extending its control over other territories, often through military force or economic dominance, and maintaining political, economic, and cultural control over those territories. The relationship that breaks out between colonialists and the native people of the nation is the relation of barbarism and feudalism. The relation of master and slave.Chadwick Boseman rightly that “colonialism is the cousin of slavery.”

COLONY:

The nation or a Country that the colonialists possess politically, socially and geographically and then govern the nation or even command over the native people of the nation and make them their slaves and exploit all the resources of the nation forcibly so the occupied nation is said to be the colony. while the occupiers are known as colonizers.

EXPLOITATION:

Exploitation means to purloin and filch the resources of the colony and to pilfer the diligence of the tenemental people. Colonialists exploit all the nations. However, it takes the lion’s share of exploitation. The indigenous people, who move heaven and earth and work at a stretch, get nothing but barbarism.

COLONIALISM AND THE DEATH OF LANGUAGES

Mostly, we have heard that colonialists aim to plunder the wealth of the other independent nations and exploit all the precious resources of the colonies and then invest all the resources in their own country but colonialism not only exploits all these resources. It also kills and buries the national language of the nation. The ordinary element responsible for the death of language is colonialism. The biggest example of colonialism is the European colonization. 15th century, which was said to be the Renaissance period of European nations. When Spain and Portugal both segregated the world by signing the treaty of Tordesillas on 7 June 1494, they promulgated the absolute and authenticated European counterclaim on the hegemony. Britain, Spain, France and Portugal colonized most of the countries. Nevertheless, Spain was much more powerful and colonized North and South America. The colonial English Language was imposed on the indigenous people of North and South America.

Colonizers forbade the indigenous people to speak in their mother Tongue. The ones who talked were beaten and tortured. During the 16th to 19th century, most of the colonies adopted colonial languages. South Africa declared the European language as her national language. Because of European colonization in the 15th century, the language of North America “Taino” died and it was replaced by Spanish and many other languages like English and French. In the 15th century, colonizers moved heaven and earth to kill the Quechua language of South America. However, it was not impacted at that time. However, in the 16th century with the arrival of Spanish the Quechua language also died.

Similarly, in 1942 Japan colonized Korea. So the Japanese warned the Koreans not to speak in their mother tongue. The Korean language was endangered during Japanese colonization. They just wanted to kill their identity and eradicate their culture. Since 1950, the Languages that exist throughout the world have declined. Among 7000 languages, almost 2600 languages have already died.

So, we can estimate how our national languages and the official languages of indigenous people are going towards the dark valley of death. This proves the relationship between colonialism and the death of language has been going on since the creation of this world.

In the 7th Century, the Arabs conquered Egypt, and the Coptic language began dying steadily. The old 15-year-old language died and the Arabic took place of the Coptic language.

Secondly, the Sanskrit language, which was the Indian subcontinent language, was in danger. In the 11th century, the Muslims ruled over India due to which the Muslims tried to change Sanskrit into Arabic. However after the withdrawal of Muslims. The British took control over India and then the British replaced Sanskrit with English. As a result Indian literature, which was barely connected with the Sanskrit language, was denied.

THE BALOCHI LANGUAGE AND THE LINGUISTICS:

The Balochi Language, which is the national language of Balochistan, is also spoken in other parts of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. It is also spoken in India, the United Arab Emirates, African countries and several other countries around the world. The preservation and survival of the Balochi language so far have been possible because of prominent poets, writers and linguistics like Syed Zahoor Shah Hashmi, Atta Shad, Munir Momin and Gul Khan Naseer, Mubarik Qazi and many others, who worked hard and dedicated their life long struggle for the promotion of Balochi Language. Some of them are still struggling for the betterment of the Balochi Language.

The one who strived day and night for the safeguarding and promotion of the Balochi Language is Syed Zahoor Shah Hashmi. He was born on 21st April 1926. He traipsed all over the world only to explore the Balochi Language. He wrote many Books on the Balochi language like “Balochi Bungeji”, “Balochi syahag e rast nibisag”, “Balochi zuban o Adab ki Thareekh” and many more. Not only this but he also wrote many dictionaries in Balochi Language. He struggled at a stretch and devoted his entire life only to the advancement of the Balochi Language.

Atta Shad was also one of those renowned poets and writers who imposed a new spirit in the Balochi language. He was born on 1st November 1939. Atta Shad also wrote many books in Balochi. Some of the books that he wrote for the ennoblement of the Balochi Language are “Rochgir”, “Shap Sahar Andem”, “jawansaal” and so on. By the titles of Books, we can get to know how he worked for the Balochi Language.

Presently, the most prominent poet Mubarak Qazi has been also dedicating his whole life to the advancement and development of the Balochi Language. He was born on 24th December 1956. He wrote several books in the love of Balochistan. In my perspective, he is not only a poet or a writer but the best leader for me, too. His Famous Books are “Cholan darya yal dathag”, “Gisa Wathar Kanag Lotan”, “Shakkale jorani barwardh” and many other books. Mostly, he wrote the poetries in Balochi Language.

BALOCHI LANGUAGE AFFECTED BY COLONIALISM:

The colonizers and their client states like Pakistan have engulfed Balochistan by exploiting the resources of Balochistan. However, the Balochi Language is barely affected by these colonizers. Balochi Language itself is worth living and is a valuable language in Balochistan but languages like Urdu and English have impinged the Balochi Language. I fully understand what Dr. Naguman has said: “The Urdu language is the knife in the hands of Pakistan”. It is glaring that in universities, colleges, in schools official languages like Balochi are not taught even not in Balochistan. The Baloch students who have done Ph.D., MPhil, and CSS even do not know a single letter of Balochi. They were completely far from the Balochi language. If I talk, I, myself being a Baloch do not know the pure Balochi language. I even can’t read and write Balochi properly because from childhood I was taught English and Urdu but not Balochi. Apart from all this nowadays poets and writers don’t write in Balochi but in English and Urdu. Where I stand I think in the years to come, the Balochi Language will lose its existence. Because the language dies when it loses its last native speaker. The Balochi language has lost its last indigenous speaker.

The only weapon to eradicate Colonialism is Education and the way to preserve the languages is to speak, read and write in our mother tongues. In this way we can preserve our language, our culture and our traditions, otherwise, the survival of our language is at stake and we might end up becoming red Indians in our own homes.